As a digital artist trying to grow my talents, it was difficult to find a place, on the web, to meet with other artists and to learn. That was until about 3 years ago, when I stumbled across Conceptart.org. Don’t be fooled by the website’s name, this isn’t just a place for concept artists, it is a place for all artists, both traditional and digital.

My goals as an artist are simple, I want to draw and paint the pictures I want and if I sell any then that is a bonus. The website is free to join and after you have signed up you become a part of the biggest online art community there is. The forums are filled with dedicated artists, both amateur and professional who are all eager to help you grow as an artist and get better at it.

They are there to offer advice, criticisms and to share their, often inspiring work with the whole community. Also in the forums are places to post your CV and to bid for freelance jobs. As the site has grown, it has offered more and more to its members. Downloadable online classes and tutorials are available, for a reasonable fee, and are invaluable if one wants to become a better artist. Remember, that those who created the downloadable content are professional artists who know what it takes and what needs to be learned to become a better and successful artist.

I am an entirely self taught artist and the help I have received over the years from this amazing website has improved my talents so much that my work from 3 years ago is unrecognisable. It hasn’t cost me a penny to gain this valuable information and help and I have networked with industry professionals and contacts. For anyone considering a career in art, Conceptart.org is the place to go.

Update: I just talked to Jenny who is officially employeed as a designer for a DVD packaging business! Bravo! (Now maybe I won’t need to pay ALL the rent…)

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I grew up in a fairly nondescript town of Northern England surrounded by terraced housing and rolling windswept hills. One of the consolations though was the proximity of a sculpture park, and as a child I was particularly fascinated by the collection of Henry Moore sculptures housed there. They seemed to me as magnificent and imposing as the Easter Island heads. Now living in Leeds I will soon get the chance to reacquaint myself with the works of the great man at a new retrospective given by Tate Britain.

From 24^th February to 8^th August the Tate Gallery at Millbank is hosting the most extensive collection of Henry Moore sculptures seen in the United Kingdom for many decades. This promises to be one of the London art events of the year and should help to re-establish Henry Moore as one of the greatest British artists of the 20^th Century.

Moore was born in Castleford, West Yorkshire in 1898 to a mining family. Moore was expected to enter this subterranean world himself but his artistic brilliance manifested itself at an early age. Moore’s experiences in the trenches of World War I provided the catalyst for his entry into the world of art. Using fantastical, abstract sculptures Moore tried to bring some definition to the carnage and chaos that he had witnessed. In later years Moore came to be known for his abstract human figures, particularly his ‘mother and child’ sculptures. His large, bronze castings often depict reclining forms, and abstract, curvaceous shapes replete with holes and piercings. Some critics believe that his beautifully undulating sculptures are a reflection of the Yorkshire hills of his birthplace.

Moore’s work grew in popularity and acclaim throughout the Twentieth Century but his work has become a victim of its own success, the sheer ubiquity of Moore’s sculptures has lessened the incredible visual and emotive impact that they can have. This new exhibition at Tate Britain, containing a selection of his stunning paintings of the World War II blitz as well as many great sculptures, should go some way to defining Henry Moore again as the greatest sculptor of his time.

I also just want to give a shout out to the enigin design team, some of the stuff they are coming out with is truly amazing!

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Walking into a gallery and talking to the owner as you both wander around looking at all the fantastic canvases might give you the impression that you have to get an expert to stretch your canvases for you; while it’s advisable if you plan to exhibit the work to a high standard, it isn’t essential. With a small amount of training anyone can make their own canvases and for a decent price. All you need is the following: a frame, some canvas, some decent pliers with a wide surface area—canvas pliers especially for the job can be bought from artists suppliers—and a staple gun.

1) Cut the canvas so it’s a few inches bigger all the way around than your frame. You can always cut it down afterwards, but don’t cut it more until it’s at least semi stapled down.

2) Lay the canvas down and put the frame on top, then pull the top piece over and staple it in the middle of the frame. Always staple the back of the frame and not the sides.

3) Do the same with all four sides, until each side has a single staple or two in the middle.

4) Now you need to pull with the pliers and put more staples in the first side you started with. Don’t staple either side of the first staple, work in one direction first, pulling the canvas taught.

5) Once you’ve done this on all four sides it will start to get more taught, like a drum. Continue until the canvas is very tight, leaving a couple of inches so the corners are free.

6) When you get to the corners, fold them over so that the canvas forms a neat corner, then staple. For more advice on making a good corner it would be advisable to consult a specialist website, of which there are many.

Before I log off, I am making an effort at figuring out something for my best friend as a gift. When I was having a chat with her the other day she said that she would like a new set of running clothes. Does anyone know of a close place to get them?

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As a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, I am very familiar with most of their music videos. There are a couple of different ones which stand out for me (‘Disarm’, ‘Tonight, Tonight’, ‘Stand inside Your Love’ and ‘33’), but my absolute favourite is ‘Ava Adore’. I have to choose that one just because it is so damned clever.

Filming an entire music video in one camera shot has been done a few times before. However, I don’t think that any of them have had so much going on in them as well. ‘Ava Adore’ has to be seen several times before you even manage to take it all in. The background, foreground and in-between are all full of so many different things. Basically, ‘Ava Adore’ has the content of ten ‘normal’ music videos crammed into it.

Billy Corgan must have had an enormous amount of fun making this. He certainly looks as happy as a pig in muck dressed in his ‘Nosferatu’-styled get-up. But the thing is; it really, really suits him. God, if he had ever been cast as a vampire he’d have put Christopher Lee out of a job! He is genuinely creepy and the way he moves is perfect for the video. It is a strange mixture of sinuous, sinister and sexy…

There is some extremely clever trick photography in this video. The best part is probably when Billy Corgan shoots across the screen at an impossibly high speed. In fact, this still manages to make me jump, even though I’ve watched it a hundred times before. It’s weird, it’s freaky, it’s fun!

The whole thing is rich with symbolism and a lot of thought has gone into every frame. It’s the kind of video that will stick in your mind just because it is so very unusual.

And to end, if any of you are eager to know, check out the new photos that just went up for banner stands. That was my trained hand at photo editing!

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London’s Royal Academy of Arts is currently running an exhibition called “The Real Vincent van Gogh. It is due to end on the 18th of April 2010. The exhibition includes his paintings and personal letters. Thinking of Vincent Van Gogh brings a lot thing to mind. It could be sunflowers, the missing ear or the tragic suicide that took his life. This exhibition allows you to discover the man behind the legend. It is the first major exhibition in over 40 year to display Van Goghs work to the public. The exhibits displayed include 35 of Van Goghs original letters and more than 60 paintings and drawings. The main items include, Self-portrait as an Artist, The Yellow House from, Vincent’s Chair with His Pipe and Entrance to the Public Park in Arles which were created in 1888 and Still-life: Drawing Board with Onions which was produced in 1889. Van Gogh was also a great letter writer. He would usually write about his artistic pieces and sketches, both in progress and those completed. This exhibition displays these letters are displayed along with the finished work they refer to. Van Gogh’s artwork portrays things such as the function of colour in painting, the cycles of nature, religion, literature and friendship. All this can be discovered at the exhibition. Van Gogh’s ideas about art, nature and literature were unique. They showed pure intelligence and are very original. Van Gogh’s usually wrote letters to his brother Theo who was an art-dealer and sister Wilhelmina. He also wrote to other artists such as Anton van Rappard, Emile Bernard and Paul Gauguin. Born in Zundert in 1853, Vincent van Gogh started painting at the age 27. During his time he created in excess of 2000 paintings and drawings. He lived a short life, which was tragically lost in 1890 when he shot himself to death.

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Is the Vancouver Cultural Olympiad the “celebration of the contemporary imagination” as aspired by the organizing committee? The Winter Olympiad 2010 is about to start and Vancouver has already proved that it can organize a long and well appointed series of festivals and events that demonstrate and present the cultural heritage of the country and the city in the best possible way.

Vancouver is the first city in the history of the Olympic Winter Games to host a cultural Olympiad two years before the Games begin. The great thing about the Cultural Olympiad is that it has something for everyone; renowned artists, emerging talents and a long, rich perspective of the Canadian art and cultural scene are there. Parallel to the sports, numerous artists come into the spotlight in 2010 in order to feed the culturally hungry crowds.

The main characteristic of the cultural Olympiad is the diversity and wealth of the spectacles; music, theatre, dance, movies, visual arts, indoor and outdoor experiences, digital media, films and videos, dramatic arts and crafts as well as remarkable pieces of modern art and creation denote that Canada is the country of diversity and of a creative community, able and ready to perform miracles.

Culture and arts are an indispensable part of the Canadian mentality and identity. This two year – event has been allowing the artists from all over the world to showcase the cultural depth and wealth of Canada, featuring more than 600 free and ticketed performances, spectacles and exhibitions.

With so many talents, so many events still to come, Vancouver is the centre of international attention this winter not only due to the Winter Olympics, but also due to the amazing Vancouver Cultural Olympiad.

As a sidebar I have just come across a site that does some amazing Bespoke Packaging! If any of you happen to be interested in Music packaging and marketing then I highly suggest that you check them out.

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I managed to find a new way of drawing a while back. Well, at least I think it’s a new way. The thing about art is that there are hundreds of thousands of artists trying out new methods every single day. How am I ever going to really know if it is something original or not?

The other thing is that I’m about to tell you what it is; hence it will no longer be my technique alone… Oh, well. What the hell.

This idea is for using pencil crayons and oil pastels together. Each of your materials needs to be of a high quality or it will just not work at all. Buy some thick pastel paper (I use Daler’s ‘Murano’) and tape it to a drawing board. Draw your basic design on the paper with a light coloured crayon and then block in all of the main colours with your oil pastels. Try to cover the whole of the paper and not to leave any blank areas.

When you have done this, start to draw over it all with pencil crayon; a lot of the oil pastel will begin to come off and you will need to keep wiping your picture gently with a tissue. It’s quite messy, so brush it all onto a sheet of newspaper or something. You should now find that your work is developing a lovely, blended sheen. Continue to work on it and, if necessary, add a little more oil pastel to thinner areas.

And that’s about it. If you want to add more detail to your work then you will need to go over it with harder crayons. W.H.Smith’s own range are actually one of the best for this.

One last thing; when your picture is done, don’t use fixative on it!!! If you do, then it will all go super-shiny and end-up looking like a mirror. I know about this ‘technique’ because I’ve tried that out as well…

A bit of a work update I have just completed a bit of design work for this website on shutters, and I have to admit I actually think that this is one of the better sites!

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‘It’s hard these days, being an artist.

It’s even harder when you’re socially conscious.’

That’s something from a song by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy that I think is very true indeed.

The reality of today’s art scene is that anyone can be an ‘artist’. You do not need to be able to draw and even if you can, then the quality of your work is not important. You don’t believe me? Have a look in a London gallery.

I have been drawing since I was old enough to hold a pencil. My work is competent and realistic. I am certainly not the best artist in the world but I do know that my work is of an exhibition standard. Over the past few years I have sold a number of my pictures but I have never been able to break into the hallowed ‘big money’ arena. That is probably because my work is not fashionable at the moment. The world of art is very fickle and if you are not creating work that is directly in line with what is wanted right now then you can forget it.

If I sound a little bit bitter about that then you will have to forgive me. It’s just that when you have walked around London galleries and seen the kind of pretentious crap that people are buying it can be a bit frustrating. Art is the oldest con in the book. If you say that a mess on a canvass is a representation of something convincingly enough then it will sell. How do I know that? Because I have tried it out for myself.

After struggling to sell any work on eBay for weeks on end I decided to perform an experiment. I got a small canvas and painted it in precise, coloured stripes. The largest amount of work that I actually did for this ‘picture’ was its ridiculous description. By the time that I had put it up for sale it sounded like a piece of high-end intellectual abstract art. I even used a pseudonym and gave the ‘artist’ a name that was actually an anagram of the word pretension.

So, does this make me a charlatan just the same as those people that I am criticising? I don’t think so. Like I said, it was an experiment. I will never do it again and I could never allow myself to make a living by doing that. I could make an awful lot of money but my conscience would get in the way.

So just before I leave, I have something to admit. I love bill owen (sorry Joy). I was watching the dvd last night and am a little bit preoccupied.

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